On that last picture, the pitting you see may not be corrosion (although that's entirely possible too). It's more likely the surface preparation that was performed on the metal before painting.

Many coating systems require a surface profile or "rough surface" to allow the coating to adhere to the surface. This is commonly performed industrially by sand-blasting.

In any case, the finish shouldn't be coming off, so that's pretty disappointing. The copper you see actually looks like discoloration due to how evenly it's occurring around the edge. That would also jive with how the paint is chipping off -- discoloration would indicate thermal/chemical damage to the paint and that's why it's breaking off.

thanks zero, I got up this morning and took another look at the range. There are a few of the black discs that have the beginning signs of the "worse" look.

I will call and email Capital about this. Maybe I'll call the local dealer where I bought it today first. Although they have never been the greatest with helping me with this range. I usually get better answers from Capital directly.

Im so sorry. I cant be of much help, but I did just order the same range. I hope this gets resolved satisfactorily. Please keep us posted.

Your grates and burner caps are cast iron. Just like your skillets. Or bar-b-que grill. And they should be treated the same. You've cleaned the seasoning off of them, and the caps are starting to rust because of that. Don't wash them. All they need are a wire brushing, coating with oil and pop them into the oven for an hour or two. Just like your cast iron pans, they get blacker and darker and more non stick with use. And, just like with your skillet, too much of the wrong cleaning means you have to start all over at the beginning. Reseason everything.

Duno what's happening with the pitting. Exactly how did you clean them?

live wire oak is correct. That's not paint--it's cast iron with porcelain enamel coating.

It looks like the enamel is chipping off. You want to be careful around those flakes as that's basically glass chips coming off those burner covers.

It is porcelain chipping off. My burners caps are more than 10 years old; another company. I have some porcelain slightly scraping off in places but not chipping.

LWO: Mine is not seasoned case iron. I have porcelain coated cast iron. I think Capital uses porcelain coating on their.

They cannot be wire brushed. I just use cleaning products and soft scrubbies.

BKW, you may have chipped off porcelain with the products that you were using. It may be also be a defect in how the porcelain went on the grates. This is the similar type of material that is put on LeCrueset pots and pans. They use "shiny" porcelain/enamel and these are black matte on the range.

Not from cleaning for sure. Microfiber towel to wash followed by microfiber towel to dry. i used dawn dish detergent.

First time i used a non scratching pad with soap was 2 days ago on the grates to try and get the white film off.

I did send an email to Bob at Capital along with photos.

Do you use cast iron pans by chance? The grates appear to be worn down by rough bottom pans or something like a cast iron griddle. The burner cap chips might be manufacturing defect or chip damage (i.e. hard impacts etc). In general, I tend to disagree with "seasoning" enamel coated surfaces but in the case of the grates, brushing a bit of oil on the exposed areas and heating the grate might make it less visible. It sounds like you are mainly concerned with appearance at this point since you are selling the house. For the photo shoot, they can touch up anything they want on the photo... will likely do that anyways no matter how new or clean your range looks.

Good luck.

amcook. I don't use cast iron. I have a Le Crueset stock pot, but it is coated on the bottom, and quite frankly I don't use it that much.

The burner caps are far below the grates, they never are touched by a pan.

still no word from Capital...

This is the answer i got from Capital, All i did was to send the thread for them to read and see

Hi Trevor

That looks like heavy scrubbing over time has abraded the porcelain away on
the burner caps. Once the porcelain is removed the metal below is subject to
corrosion so that's what the corroded photo looks like. The porcelain can
also be cracked if dropped and once it's cracked it can start corrosion
beneath the surface and also allows more cracks to propagate. Cleaning is
recommended with a mild soap and a sponge instead of a hard abrasive.

The grates are hard to tell since the shot is not close to the surface. I've
seen white on grates most commonly when aluminum pans have been used and the
aluminum is rubbed off on the grates and also when a cleaner like Soft Scrub
is used and not rinsed off completely. Residue can remain in the rough
finish or the porcelain grates.

Joey

Wow, now I am officially disappointed in their response. As far as I know, microfiber towels and dish soap are not abrasive. There is no way I would ever have abused a $6,000 range. The burner caps don't get dirty enough to ever warrant the need to scrub them.

Perhaps I will just call them myself. They don't seem to be responsive to my email. And of course my local dealer is not either. They don't sell many Capital ranges (at least when I bought mine), in fact it was hidden in a dark corner of their showroom, I had to find it myself.

Trevor, thanks.
Bee

Bee

Give me a call if you need any assistance, it might be better to replace the caps and grates than put to much time into cleaning them.

Beekeeperswife. The response wasn't intended to disparage your cleaning techniques but was only a generic response to "What can cause this?" and without further background those responses are what most often causes damage (Sorry if it sounded accusational).

There are a variety of ways damage can occur to porcelain but once damaged it is near impossible to repair. Your e-mails are being sent over to me so I will respond to you directly and also, if you're comfortable with Trevor give him a call. I communicate with Trevor regularly.

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that once again Capital has proven themselves as having outstanding customer service. Joey has contacted me, and I have just sent him photos of the burners on.

I did fwd my email that I had sent to Bob to the general customer service email address and they forwarded it to Joey. They are graciously replacing my discs and the burner grates. I consider this above and beyond. I fully expected an explanation on how to get the grates to look black again.

So this is why people love Capital. When a problem arises, they do help.

And Trevor. You truly are wonderful. I had copied the salesman at the local store where I bought my range on my note to Bob (last Friday), which included the photos. It's sort of sad that a Capital dealer in MA responds to my concerns and yet my local store does nothing. Then again, I'm not surprised.

Thank you Capital and Joey for restoring my faith in Capital! And Thank You Trevor. Maybe I'll be visiting your store sometime soon to check out the Culinarian!

Yay

beekeeperswife, I am so happy to hear you have had a positive outcome. My husband and I have made a decison to purchase a Culinarian for our new house and though we are down south we will be ordering from Trevor. Your positive experience with customer service (and Trevor) has only made us more sure of our decision.

I am curious as to what may have caused your problem with the grates, whether it was something you may have done by mistake or if it is some other issue. The answer will not stop me from getting the Culinaraian as I still feel it is the best out there. If you are more comfortable, please feel free to e-mail me. It is only meant to educate me and nothing else. Problems will arise no matter what product anyone buys. It is how a company handles it that is most important to me, and I am pleased with how Capital operates.

Now the hard part....deciding on what finishes for the range and hood for a country style kitchen.

Sandy

Interesting. My experience is that Capital NEVER EVER responds to e-mails, but maybe it varies...